World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)

Overview: 

World Intellectual Property Indicators 2018 report was recently released in Geneva by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

• Globally, 1.4 million patents were granted in 2017. China’s patent authority led the world in the number of patents granted with 420,144 and was followed by the US with 318,829, according to the WIPO.

Key notings of the report- India related key facts:

• The number of patents granted by India shot up by 50% in 2017, keeping up a trend of steep increases. The patents granted by India increased from 8,248 in 2016 to 12,387 last year.
• Of the patents granted last year, 1,712 went to entities and individuals based in India, and 10,675 to foreigners.
• While India ranked 10th in the number of patents given last year, no Indian company or university figures in last year’s global list of the top 50 patent applicants.

Know more about WIPO:

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations.

• It was created in 1967 “to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world.”
• It has currently 188 member states, administers 26 international treaties, and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Non-members are the states of Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, South Sudan and Timor-Leste. Palestine has observer status.
• India is a member of WIPO and party to several treaties administered by WIPO.

Sources: the hindu.